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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.
Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.
Ian: And today, we're going to talk about one of my absolute favorite holidays. And it's celebrated in a few different parts of the world, but especially in North America. In the United States, we have United States Thanksgiving. And this is a holiday that happens in November of every year. The idea of it is to celebrate about the things that we are thankful for, the things we have in our lives and appreciate what we have. So, we're gonna talk a little bit about that awesome holiday today. First, let's talk about the history of the holiday because I have a lot of students who ask me about this holiday, and they don't really understand the history behind why we celebrate it. Just to give a little bit of history, we're going to talk about how it all started and actually, it started up in your neck of the woods, in the US, up in Massachusetts in New England.
Paige: Yeah, so, I mean, obviously it was hundreds of years ago, in the 1600’s, when the pilgrims came from Europe and they landed in Plymouth Rock, which is Massachusetts, where I'm from. And obviously, Native Americans were who lived in North America at the time, which is now the US. As a sign of friendship, they offered food and they had this big feast together so it was, I think, recorded-wise, like, one of the first times where the Native Americans and the pilgrims, who came from Europe, shared a feast.
Ian: Yeah. And, again, we don't know all the exact official stories—that’s what we've been told. And furthermore, than that, when the pilgrims arrived, it was a new land. They had no idea what the conditions were like, how they were going to survive and actually a lot of the first people that came they got sick, they died. And the story goes that they looked for help from the natives and the natives taught them how to grow crops, how to fish the local waters—basically how to sustain themselves and to start their lives. And yes, sort of as a gesture of gratitude, the idea is they held a “thanksgiving” feast together. So, they brought all the food that they had grown over the year and celebrated this big meal, saying thanks for your help and all of that. So, we celebrate that kind of appreciation and all that together now, but in modern times. So usually what happens is, you know, the whole family gets together and you cook traditional, American foods. It's usually, like, the biggest meal of the entire year, at least in my house. So, you get the family together, you tell each other what you're thankful for, you share this big meal and then you spend some family time together. I don't know it's just for me at least it's a holiday I have really great memories, it's great spending time with family, coming home, it’s always got a warm place and in my heart. What about you? Do you like Thanksgiving?
Paige: Yeah, I think, as you said, Ian, it's all about the food. I mean, on Thanksgiving, traditional Thanksgiving meal is a big turkey, right? Stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, maybe some vegetables. And then obviously dessert, so, like, an apple pie or…
Ian: Super traditional—it’s probably the most American dessert you can have. Every year, when I go to my grandma's to eat Thanksgiving, I eat so much that I fall asleep on the couch, and she has to bring me coffee to wake me up. It's a great tradition, I love it.
Paige: I think that's why the holiday is so special because it's really just about eating. I mean, you're expected to fall asleep after that feast—that’s, like, part of the holiday. Where I feel like a lot of other holidays, there are too many things scheduled, it's too hectic, you have to go to grandma's house and then Aunt Cindy’s and open presents here and then sing carols or there's just a schedule. Where Thanksgiving is literally you just eat dinner, you fall asleep, you watch football or you watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and you just, kind of, socialize. There's no really schedule.
Ian: Yeah, there's, like, no strings attached besides just, you know, spending time with your family, eating good food and relaxing. And I don't need anything more than that. So, it's great.
Paige: And quick reminder, don't forget if you want to advance your English more, learn more, go online to dynamicenglish.cl where you can take private classes, you can take group classes, you can even now take classes online. I think also, me and Ian didn’t mention, there's usually a lot of drinking. So, you're eating a lot, you're drinking a lot, you're with your family…have you had any, any “war stories” from Thanksgiving? Any family drama?
Ian: No, no family drama at Thanksgiving. Like you said, we're usually pretty lubricated with the alcohol so that usually helps—it takes the edge off things. But in general, we try to stay away from edgy topics also, try to not bring up politics or other things like that, that are going to get people arguing. So, yeah, try to keep it all pretty mellow and talk about our lives, talk about previous years, funny things that have happened. Yeah, just enjoy everyone's company together because the thing is in the United States it’s really common for people to live far away from their family. So, what's great is it's a really good time of the year to kind of have a homecoming, kind of come home to see your family, spend time where you used to grow up. And for a lot of people, they don't like that, but I think it's good for a couple days, to kind of, get back to your roots and have a good excuse to get friends and family together once a year.
Paige: Absolutely. I think too, like you said, unlike some of the other holidays, this one is not very commercialized and there's not a lot of preparation. I mean, you have to make food but you don't have to go shopping and have these long lists and all these things you have to do to prepare—get the Christmas tree or the lights. There's always a lot of things involved around Christmas, where Thanksgiving is just, you bring a dish, everyone kind of chips in with the food and you're just there.
Ian: Exactly, there's not, there's no real high expectations. Yeah, so it makes it easier.
Paige: Which is very nice. I think it's funny because obviously with drinking some topics do come up and, especially nowadays, politics in the US is very, very confrontational.
Ian: Very polarizing.
Paige: Yeah, there's a lot of different issues, and Saturday Night Live is this is really popular show in the US. It's sketch comedy, and they do this amazing skit about a normal, traditional US Thanksgiving. And it's a family that, you know, has people from both political spectrums, so obviously a lot of confrontation, and every time they bring up a topic, like politics, race, money anything, the cast breaks into an Adele song. And it just, like, eases the tension. And it's just this hilarious skit—we’ll have to include it in our transcript.
Ian: Yeah, exactly.
Paige: Because yeah, I think it's very common in the US, that you, your family kind of lives all over. It's rare, unfortunately, that you have family that are all in the same town. So, when you have people living in different states, you're gonna have a lot of different views at the table, who haven't seen each other in maybe a year, maybe a few years. So, there's often usually some tension.
Ian: Yeah, it's bound to happen at some point. Yeah, but I try to avoid it, if I can.
Paige: I think what's great too is, like you said, because when you're older, you maybe move away from your family and you might not be able to make it home for Thanksgiving because you only have so many holidays and time off work that there's been a nice tradition in the past, maybe five or 10 years, of “Friendsgiving.” And Friendsgiving is a nice tradition where you get to celebrate with all your close friends at someone's house in the same idea. You have the turkey, the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, the gravy. And it's very nice, sometimes you have two, sometimes your Friendsgiving and then you go home for your family Thanksgiving. Have you had a Friendsgiving?
Ian: I had a Friendsgiving one year and I can't remember, it was maybe two or three years ago. Obviously, it would have to have been before I moved here, but yeah, it was a lot of fun. Yeah everybody cooks something or brings something—it doesn't have to be super fancy. But yeah, same idea—get together with your friends, tell each other what you appreciate about each other and what you appreciate about life and do some drinking, of course. That's always involved. It's always a good excuse. Yeah, like you said, the whole idea of saying what you're what you're thankful for, what you're appreciative for, I think that's something important. Especially in today's world, when you have a thousand different things coming through your phone screen, you know, all this materialism, all this commercialism, it's nice to have a day when you can step back and just say, “I'm really thankful for all these things that I already have in my life.” So, yeah, the concept is really nice.
Paige: When you've had Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, what are some common things people are thankful for? Do people get into it or do they say, “I’m thankful for family” or, like, is it pretty cookie cutter things or are people honest?
Ian: I think it depends on how much we've drank. No, usually it's usually a mix of, like, some very, like, heartfelt. So thankful we're all together and maybe we'll say, you know, we'll talk about, like, someone who's died who we miss or something like that. But then also, yes, some light hearted stuff as well. I’m getting hungry right now; I might go out and try to find some traditional food to eat since I'll be here during Thanksgiving this year. So yeah, so for those of you, there's no reason why you shouldn't start your own Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving. Who knows, you could even have a Chilean version, you could have a Mexican version, you could have any kind of version you want. Just remember, be thankful for what you have and make sure you have alcohol.
Paige: And lots of food.
Ian: Yes, those three things—the most important.
Paige: Thanks for listening.
Ian: We'll see you next time.
***Saturday Night Live-Thanksgiving skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2zyjbH9zzA
Key Vocabulary, Phrases and Slang:
1. neck of the woods (idiom): a particular area where someone lives or grew up.
a. There are lots of mountains in his neck of the woods.
2. pilgrim (noun): a person who travels a long journey. Specifically, for Thanksgiving, English Puritans who left England in 1620 to travel to North America to have religious freedom.
a. The pilgrims had many problems when they arrived to North America.
3. feast (noun): a large meal, usually to celebrate something.
a. We always have a feast when my family is together.
4. crop (noun): a plant that is grown for food, especially grains, vegetables and fruits.
a. The crops aren’t growing much this year because there isn’t much rain.
5. to sustain (verb): to strengthen and support.
a. We sustained our energy by eating lots of food.
6. gesture of gratitude (noun): an action expressing thanks for something.
a. He gave her flowers as a gesture of gratitude for helping him with his problem.
7. stuffing (noun): a traditional, breaded mixture used to put inside (to stuff) meat before cooking.
a. My grandma makes the most delicious stuffing for Thanksgiving.
8. gravy (noun): a thick sauce made from cooked meat juices.
a. I love to put gravy over all of my food on Thanksgiving.
9. hectic (adjective): crazy, unorganized.
a. The subway is really hectic in the morning.
10. to socialize (verb): to talk and spend time with other people.
a. It’s important that children can socialize with other children in school.
11. no strings attached (idiom): something that has no requirements or restrictions.
a. She wants a no strings attached relationship with him.
12. to mention (verb): to talk about something without many details.
a. I want to mention that we have a meeting next week with the partners.
13. war stories (euphemism): moments of drama or tension between people.
a. My parents have war stories from their family vacation when their friends were always arguing.
14. lubricated (adjective, euphemism): under the influence of alcohol, drunk.
a. We are always lubricated with alcohol for our dinners.
15. to take the edge off (phrasal verb): to make something less stressful or unpleasant.
a. Having a drink before a flight helps take the edge off.
16. edgy (adjective): controversial.
a. I try to avoid edgy topics like politics when I’m with my family.
17. mellow (adjective): relaxed, careless
a. The discussion was very mellow. No one got mad at each other.
18. to get back to your roots (phrasal verb): to return to one’s origins.
a. I go home to visit my family and get back to my roots whenever I can.
19. commercialized (adjective): marketed and sold for profit.
a. Christmas has become a very commercialized holiday.
20. to chip in (phrasal verb): to contribute or help.
a. She always chips in when there is work to do at the house.
21. confrontational (adjective): causing arguments or aggressiveness.
a. People can be confrontational when discussing politics.
22. polarizing (adjective): dividing two contrasting groups with different opinions or beliefs.
a. Political opinions are very polarizing for the citizens.
23. sketch comedy (noun): comedy involving short scenes or stories.
a. The Chappelle Show is the best sketch comedy show in history.
24. skit (noun): a short comedy sketch performed by comedians.
a. The comedian’s skit was so funny that I almost fell out of my chair.
25. spectrum (noun): position of something between two opposite points.
a. Her parents are on the complete opposite sides of the political spectrum.
26. cast (noun): group of actors or comedians that are involved in a performance.
a. The cast in the new Tarantino movie is amazing.
27. tension (noun): mental or emotional conflict.
a. There was tension between the two men as they discussed their opinions.
28. bound to happen (adjective): something likely to happen in the future, something inevitable.
a. Whenever people play with fire, something bad is bound to happen.
29. fancy (adjective): elegant, formal.
a. She wears fancy dresses to church.
30. to get into it (phrasal verb): to get into an argument, cause tension.
a. My cousins always get into it when we have family dinners.
31. cooker-cutter (adjective): common, ordinary, basic.
a. Everything he does is so cookie-cutter. He never tries to be original or creative.
32. heartfelt (adjective): sincere, honest.
a. I wrote my grandma a heartfelt note.
33. lighthearted (adjective): innocent, fun, entertaining.
a. We like to have lighthearted talks when we see each other.